Zespri partners with McDonalds Mexico

The kiwifruit marketer Zespri is expecting to boost its sales to Mexico by 40 percent this year with the help of McDonald's.

McDonald's Mexico will soon offer a kiwifruit in its happy meals. Photo: SUPPLIED

The fast food company will include a New Zealand gold kiwifruit in every children's happy meal it sells there this month.

Zespri's General marketing manager Carol Ward said that would add up to more than a million pieces of the new gold variety kiwifruit.

She said it was a marketing move which it would be keen to use in other markets.

"So McDonalds are working hard to ensure that there are healthy meal options for their customers and Sungold is such a nutritious, high Vitamin C product, we think it's the perfect partner.

"And this brings Zespri Sungold kiwifruit into the hands of more than a million Mexican families - a great sampling and trial opportunity for Zespri," she said.

"This year we're planning to sell over 750,000 trays in Mexico, both gold and green kiwifruit, so that makes it one of our more significant markets for new market development.

"Zespri has been marketing kiwifruit in Mexico since the mid-1990s, but it's really only in the last two years that we've started significant investment here, to grow gold consumption in Mexico," she said.